1) CWA Writing Prompts: We have developed two writing prompts that asks students to use the historical evidence in the Civil Rights Investigations to write an argumentative essay. The first prompt we selected. The second prompt we allowed teachers to select.
PROMPT #1 In the essay, “Nonviolence and Racial Justice” (1957), Martin Luther King, Jr. asks, “How is the struggle against the forces of injustice to be waged?” Answer his question only drawing on evidence from the civil rights movement. Alternate forms of this prompt: A. Which tool or tools most effectively help activists achieve their goals? Argue your case drawing only on evidence from the civil rights movement. B. Civil rights activists used many tools in their struggle against injustice. The media, nonviolent protest methods, the courts, and legislation were just some of these tools. Which tool or tools most effectively helped civil rights activists achieve their goals?
PROMPT #2: An individual is powerless to change society. An individual has the power to change society. Which statement does the history of the civil rights movement most support?
CWA Writing Journals: We have created a writing journal to accompany the prompt. This is meant to be a guide for teachers. Designed with “backwards planning” in mind, the activities in the writing journals can be used throughout the Civil Rights Investigations unit and during the writing process to help students build ideas and evidence for their essay and organize their thinking.
CWA Supplemental Teaching Strategies: We have suggested teaching strategies to support the stages of the writing process: Pre-writing (Gathering evidence, developing arguments, writing a thesis) Writing (introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions) Revising and editing Sharing
Common Writing Assignment Materials developed to accompany Civil Rights Investigations
http://www.facinghistory.org/resources/units/boston-public-schools-civil-rights
1) CWA Writing Prompts: We have developed two writing prompts that asks students to use the historical evidence in the Civil Rights Investigations to write an argumentative essay. The first prompt we selected. The second prompt we allowed teachers to select.
PROMPT #1
In the essay, “Nonviolence and Racial Justice” (1957), Martin Luther King, Jr. asks, “How is the struggle against the forces of injustice to be waged?” Answer his question only drawing on evidence from the civil rights movement.
Alternate forms of this prompt:
A. Which tool or tools most effectively help activists achieve their goals? Argue your case drawing only on evidence from the civil rights movement.
B. Civil rights activists used many tools in their struggle against injustice. The media, nonviolent protest methods, the courts, and legislation were just some of these tools. Which tool or tools most effectively helped civil rights activists achieve their goals?
PROMPT #2:
An individual is powerless to change society.
An individual has the power to change society.
Which statement does the history of the civil rights movement most support?
Prompts we considered:
CWA Writing Journals: We have created a writing journal to accompany the prompt. This is meant to be a guide for teachers. Designed with “backwards planning” in mind, the activities in the writing journals can be used throughout the Civil Rights Investigations unit and during the writing process to help students build ideas and evidence for their essay and organize their thinking.
CWA Supplemental Teaching Strategies: We have suggested teaching strategies to support the stages of the writing process:
Pre-writing (Gathering evidence, developing arguments, writing a thesis)
Writing (introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions)
Revising and editing
Sharing
CWA Rubric for 10th grade - developed by BPS